The Ackerman Thrillers Boxset

by Ethan Cross

  But he refused to succumb to the darkness. He forced his aching body to pull itself the rest away of the way free from the broken chair and the now ineffective restraints. As he finally got to his feet, he swayed back and forth, having to steady himself against one of the shelving units mounted to the inner wall.

  Once the momentary swirling sickness had abated, he looked to the unconscious police captain with a smile and said, “I think it’s my turn to ask you some questions, Cap.”

  57

  Liana stared down at the small communicator, completely unsure of what she was going to say or do. And then she looked to Frank, who lay unconscious on the floor of the back room. She watched and waited for his chiseled abdomen to move up and down and indicate that he was still breathing. He was alive but unresponsive. Peering around the corner of the broken front window, she snatched up the binoculars and watched Canyon for a moment as he hiked up the trail toward her. His arms were raised, and the black handheld radio jutted from his right fist.

  Talking to herself aloud, she said, “You’re on your own now, girl.”

  The sound of her own voice chilled Liana down to her spine. As if it wasn’t her voice but that of her grandmother, words spoken at her mother’s funeral. Grandmother had stared down at a sobbing child and said, “You’re on your own now, girl. But that doesn’t mean that you’re alone. The spirits are always watching over you.”

  Liana hoped for a little help from the spirits now because she couldn’t for the life of her find the words to halt Canyon’s march. She had always been a bit impetuous, and sometimes others confused that quality with her being a take-charge kind of person. When in reality, she considered herself more the kind of person to stay to the back of the class, keep her head down, and work hard but under the radar. Now, she needed to channel something that wasn’t a natural inclination. Of course, she had no idea how to do that.

  She tried to imagine what Frank would do. But that was a lesson in futility. She might as well have been trying to predict the behaviors of a five-headed alien with flippers as trying to figure out the strange man who had walked into her life only a few hours ago.

  Holding the radio up to her mouth, Liana said the first thing that came to mind. “This is Officer Liana Nakai of the Navajo Tribal Police. Mr. Canyon, I’m going to need you to return to your vehicle… And then I would ask you and your men to please cease and desist and vacate these premises. The situation here is under control, and you needn’t worry about your son or any of the hostages. They are safe and in my custody.”

  Through the binoculars, Liana watched John Canyon stare in confusion at the radio in his hand. Then, shaking his head, he keyed the mic and replied, “Little lady, you’ve done bit off way more than you can chew. Where’s your new friend? Over.”

  “He’s right here. He’s also in my custody. Over”

  “I highly doubt that. This has gone way beyond the purview of the law, and you weren’t really cops to begin with. More like a bunch of glorified security guards. You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into, or the forces that you’re playing with.”

  “I know this much. My new friend says that if you try to approach this building without an invitation, he’s going to put a fifty-caliber bullet through your cranium. The best thing that you and your men can do now is to pack up and head home. This is a law enforcement matter, and law enforcement will handle it.”

  Canyon laughed. “You really have no clue, do you? They didn’t just steal my son. They stole one of our cocaine shipments, worth many millions of dollars. It’s worth more than the lives of everyone in this whole damn town. So I want you to understand, Officer Nakai of the Navajo Nation Police, that you are already dead. Your new friend in there, his partner, and anyone else involved are already dead.”

  Though her heart dropped at the confirmation of what she already knew, she maintained her composure and said, “That’s not a very smart thing to say when you have a high-powered rifle aimed at your head.”

  “I’m just making observations, Officer Nakai. You can let your friend Frank know that we have his partner in custody and that Captain Yazzie is interrogating him at the ranch right now. Things will go a lot better for all of you if you surrender now and tell us where to find the truck. Maybe you can even get through this night alive.”

  “Like I told you before Mr. Canyon, I’m not all that concerned about protecting Frank from you.” To emphasize her point, Liana snatched up the rifle and took aim at the already-ruined truck. Squeezing back on the trigger, she placed another round through the engine block. The recoil from the large rifle, even though she was qualified for high-powered and assault rifles, nearly knocked her onto the floor. It was unlike anything she’d ever shot before, a staggering level of power and the concussion. Although she couldn’t hear or feel it from Canyon’s or his men’s position, she guessed that the massive bullet striking the truck would have felt like a fighter jet flying over.

  Into the radio, she said, “I think my new friend is through talking. He says for you to bring him Agent Carlisle and maybe you’ll get through this night alive. Over and out.”

  Laying the rifle back on the table and rubbing at her shoulder, which felt like it was dislocated, Liana looked through the binoculars and was satisfied to see Canyon returning to his men. She allowed herself a deep breath and a few seconds to calm her trembling heart and hands. When she looked back to Frank, she was startled to see him looking back at her with a smile on his face. She asked, “Did you hear all of that?”

  His reply was barely audible, and so she moved closer and leaned down until their faces were less than a foot apart.

  In a whisper, Frank said, “If Canyon wants you looking at him out the front…”

  His voice trailed off, but she finished his sentence out-loud. “Then he probably has men coming in the back.”

  58

  After checking Yazzie for weapons and then hog-tying the police captain, Marcus made his way back through the house in order to deal with Officer Pitka. He found the young man inside his patrol cruiser using the radio as he had been instructed. Coming at him from the side and behind, taking advantage of the blind spots and staying out of view of the mirrors, Marcus crept right up to the open window of the Ford Explorer and held Yazzie’s pistol up to the young man’s head.

  Cocking back the hammer of the Colt Peacemaker was definitely a satisfying experience, the well-oiled gun turning exactly as it should, all pieces working together in tandem. Like a bandit of the Old West, Marcus said, “Reach for the sky, partner.”

  The young officer froze, eyes going wide, bowels possibly evacuating.

  Marcus continued, “I don’t want you to think about your captain or what’s going to happen

  The young officer spoke in a flood of information so fast that it was hard Marcus to keep up. “Dude, please don’t kill me. Listen, I’m really just a normal police officer. I write tickets. I fill out reports. I patrol. I’ve only been on the force for a couple of years. We usually aren’t involved in anything like this. I mean we knew that something’s going on below the surface. We knew that Mr. Canyon isn’t exactly the most stand-up citizen, but nothing like this. I mean, heck, I would just be writing tickets tonight and driving around checking on things. Or actually I’d be at home in bed because I wasn’t even supposed to be on tonight, but you know, the whole thing with the bloody guy walking into the station, I got called in to help. And man, I didn’t even know anything about an agent coming in asking questions and then another agent asking questions about them. I was out on patrol when she came in. I didn’t see anyone. But Liana told me that she was there when the agent met with Captain Yazzie.”

  In his head, Marcus thought: Damn kid, I didn’t even have to start counting.

  Aloud, he said, “What agent? You mean Maggie? Agent Carlisle?”

  “Yeah, Liana was in the office filling out some reports when Agent Carlisle came in to visit Captain Yazzie. They talked. Nothing big. The walls are thin th
ere in the station so Liana would have heard if there was some kind of heated discussion. But she said it was normal, except that your friend was asking about John Canyon and powwows. Liana said that Agent Carlisle asked her questions, thanked Yazzie, and left. She didn’t hear anything more until another agent came in from the FBI asking if your friend had been here. From what Liana told me, Yazzie had already instructed her to say that they had never heard of any Agent Carlisle.”

  Marcus said, “Anything else? Anything you’ve heard, seen, or know about that you think might help me find my friend? You want to be a real cop? This is your chance. Whatever corruption was going on in this valley, it dies tonight. Your buddy Mr. Canyon is a tumor, and my partner and I, think of us like chemo-therapy. Which means there’s going to be collateral damage, like anyone who stands with Canyon or in our way.”

  The young officer trembled all over as he said, “I don’t know anything else. I do my job and keep my head down. It’s a crap posting, but it gets my foot in the door, and I’m hoping to transfer down to the main office in Shiprock as soon as I can.”

  Marcus said, “You’re only gonna live long enough to do any of that if you do exactly as I tell you. Are you ready to be a real cop?”

  “Absolutely. Name it.”

  “Do you know where the main cell tower around here is located? The one that provides service for the valley?”

  59

  Ackerman felt exhausted by the effort required to keep his eyelids from falling. When Liana looked down at him and asked, “If they’re coming, what are we going to do?” Ackerman wanted to reply, “I’m going to take a nice long nap.” Unfortunately, he didn’t have time for rest and relaxation. There was still much work to do on this day.

  He replied, “I need you to do exactly as I say. Sit me up, put my Bowie knife in my left hand, and your Glock 19 in my right hand. Place both hands on my lap.”

  As she did as he requested, grabbing the Bowie knife and retrieving her Glock from its holster, she said, “How would any of Canyon’s men sneak up on us now? We have the whole road covered.”

  “I imagine he sent them around to climb the rock face.”

  “Maybe I could still get back there before they—”

  “There’s no time. They’re already here.”

  Once she’d finished getting him into position, she asked, “What about me? What do I do?”

  Ackerman felt like ten gallons of feces in a five gallon receptacle. The fact that he was still going was a sheer exercise of will. He wasn’t afraid to die. He wasn’t afraid to lose. And he wasn’t afraid to feel great pain as he did either of those things. He was dizzy and weak, and the world felt like the inside of a clothes dryer on spin cycle. But even he knew that he could only keep this up for so long. He only had so much strength, only so many words that he would be able to speak. His body would soon betray him and shut down in order to focus on the necessary repairs.

  With all that in mind, he said, “Use your resources. And remember, losing just means that you didn’t cheat hard enough.”

  Her brow furrowed, and she started to speak but was interrupted when two men, each armed with a 9mm Beretta, stormed in through the back door.

  Immediately springing into action, Liana snatched up an MP5 submachine gun from the table, aimed at the intruders as they entered the front room, and said, “Stand down or I will shoot.”

  The two young men, who appeared to be in excellent physical condition, barked orders at them to drop their weapons as they scanned the front room for the hostages.

  Ackerman was now having trouble keeping his mind focused on reality. His thoughts kept wandering. He could feel himself drifting off. His body finally shutting down; his battery finally reaching zero. He had found himself in this situation before many times, but never quite under these circumstances. He was in an odd position where he wanted to simply go to sleep. And he wasn’t really afraid of the consequences of what would happen if he did that. Things would either work out or they wouldn’t. But it also wasn’t in his DNA to give up.

  In his ear, Ackerman heard the voice of Thomas White whisper, “You could just let me take over for a moment and handle the situation. I could ring that last bit of energy out of you. Just say the word. Give in and let me have the reins.”

  Out loud, Ackerman exclaimed, “That will never happen!” His gaze was directed somewhere at the floor, but in his periphery, he could see everyone in the room turn their attention toward him.

  He added, “I will not let you slaughter these men. It’s out of the question.”

  The thought of Thomas White burrowing his way inside of his consciousness provided the anger necessary for Ackerman to keep going. But he still could barely feel his arms and legs and knew that he would not be able to move them. He put all of his strength and spirit into moving his head and forcing his face to make the necessary expressions. If he did this right, all he would need to do was sell it with his eyes.

  His gaze moving up to the two intruders and then over to Liana who was also staring at him dumbfounded, he said, “I’m sorry, did I say that out loud? Don’t mind me, I was just having an argument with one of the voices in my head.”

  One of the men, the smaller and younger looking of the two, whom Ackerman pegged as a gangbanger with no military experience, said, “Put your weapons down and your hands up.”

  Ackerman asked, “What are they saying about me?”

  The banger kept his eyes on the Bowie knife and the Glock. “What? Who?”

  “Your friends. I’ve had run-ins with a few of your crew now. Including your illustrious leader, Mr. Canyon. I’m sure that there’s been some sort of talk about me during the events of this evening. I’m curious.”

  With his Beretta tilted slightly to the side and used to emphasize his words, the banger replied, “They say you’re a punk. Now put your hands up.”

  Ackerman met the young man’s gaze. The kid was trying to seem tough, but Ackerman had detected the trembling of his voice. He saw all of the kinesthetic markers for lying. And fear.

  Fixing the banger with his most piercing gaze, Ackerman chuckled and then said, “We both know that’s not true. Let me guess. They’ve been saying things like: ‘He’s a dark wind.’ Or perhaps that I have one foot in this world and one in the spirit realm. They say that I can dodge bullets. Perhaps there have even been whispers that I could be some kind of witch. What do you call them around here? Skinwalkers?”

  He could see the unease fall over all of the room’s American Indian occupants. Among the Diné, witchcraft and the existence of skinwalkers was something that was never to be even spoken of.

  The banger said, “You ain’t faster than a bullet, white boy. From the way I see it, we have you dead to rights. So why don’t you drop your weapons and we can end this without anyone getting killed.”

  Ackerman shrugged. “You may be right. But you see that’s something people often become confused about. It’s sort of like running from a grizzly bear in the wilderness.”

  As Ackerman surveyed the expressions of the others in the room, he knew that he had them right where he wanted them by all the looks of confusion. He continued, “You know what I’m talking about. If you’re out with a friend in the wilderness and you come upon a grizzly bear. You don’t actually have to be faster than the bear…”

  The kid replied, “Yeah yeah, you just have to be faster than your friend. What’s your point?”

  “It’s the same principle,” Ackerman replied. “You see, I don’t have to be faster than a bullet. I just have to be faster than you. Dodging bullets—especially with small caliber semiautomatic weapons, like what you are wielding this morning, which I assume was due to the climb and the weight that would’ve accompanied one of the AK-47s or AR-15s—only requires that I be able to calculate and counteract your movements. You see, I’ve stared down a lot gun barrels over the years, and I’ve learned how to gauge exactly where a bullet is going to go from the way that you are holding the gun and the angle
of the barrel. So I don’t have to outrun the bullet. I just have to make sure that I’m faster than you and that I get out of the way before you can pull the trigger. Some have felt that it creates the illusion that I’m dodging bullets, when in actuality I’m merely demonstrating my superior reflexes over the shooter. You’ve seen what happened to your friends. I won’t be as forgiving with you. Let’s just say that if you force me into a confrontation right now, you won’t be leaving here with all of your parts.”

  The banger bared his teeth and said, “You ain’t no ghost. Not yet. But you’re gonna be if you don’t drop your weapons and raise your hands.”

  Ackerman fixed the young man with his most intense gaze and then said, “Do you really want to find out how fast you are? Are you faster than the dark wind? There are only so many ways that this can go down. You have orders to take us alive, because there are a million places out here we could’ve hidden your boss’s shipment. But since you have my partner in custody, those rules of engagement may have been adjusted. Either way, your benefactor is an intelligent man. He’s not going to risk killing us quite yet. At least not if he can avoid it. And if you are able to bring us in alive, you are assured his gratitude and respect. So you may be asking yourself what kind of circumstance or action would allow that to happen. Well, obviously, I’m not going to surrender. And obviously neither are you. So I propose a different course of action. I suggest that the two of you put down your weapons. And so do we. Then you fight my associate Officer Liana Nakai in hand-to-hand combat for the privilege of presenting us to the self-appointed protector of your realm.”

  Liana looked at him as if he had grown a second head. Ignoring her, he continued, “I’m sure that two strapping young men like yourselves would have no problem in besting Ms. Liana in a fair fight . If you are successful in doing so, then I will surrender without raising a finger. You will have taken us in without a scratch, and you will have earned a place at the table of your grand Mr. Canyon.”